


Aunt Lin

by Angel_of_the_Starz



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-07-27
Packaged: 2018-03-14 23:13:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3429056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angel_of_the_Starz/pseuds/Angel_of_the_Starz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With things settling down after Kuvira’s arrest, Chief Lin Beifong must now get used to her new role as an aunt since Opal would like to spend more time with her. Oneshot collection.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kissing

**Author's Note:**

> This story is also posted on my fanfiction.net account

Chief Lin Beifong walked the streets of Republic City, checking to make sure everything was in order.

“Aunt Lin,” Opal called out. Lin looked up into the sky and took note of the sky bison flying low in her general direction. She took a quick step back as the bison landed softly on the ground. “I’ve looking all over for you.”

Lin groaned in disgust as Juicy licked her on the cheek. She quickly wiped it off. “I didn’t like it when Naga did it and I don’t like it now,” she muttered.

“I’m so glad I caught you.” Opal slid down Juicy’s back and landed on her feet. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few treats before tossing them over towards him. Juicy blew a snot bubble in excitement before catching the treats in his mouth.

“What’s up, kid?” Lin asked. Opal rushed over and gave her a hug. In response, Lin wrapped one arm around her shoulders before pulling away after a few seconds had passed. “How was your trip Zaoufu?”

“Good! Mom and Dad are doing well,” she explained quickly. “Mom says hi and she’ll be radioing you soon. Anyway, I need to ask you a question,” Opal said. “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time.”

Lin motioned for Opal to follow her to a small café on the main road of Republic City. She took a seat and Opal grabbed the one opposite of her. “Are you thinking about joining the police force? I have to say, I never thought you’d take that route.”

“No,” Opal muttered. She quickly looked over her shoulder. Lin noticed her cheeks turning a soft pink. “I have a question about…kissing,” she said in a whisper.

Lin looked at her in surprise. She rubbed the back of her neck and shifted in her seat. She began to feel perspire underneath her metal armor and wasn’t too sure if it came from being underneath the harsh sun or being bothered by the topic. “And you think I’m the best person to talk to about this?” she asked.

“I can’t talk to my mom about it,” Opal admitted.

“Why not?” Lin pushed. “Aren’t you allowed to do whatever you want? Can’t you talk about whatever you want?”

“No, this is too embarrassing,” she insisted. “My mom is so old, she won’t understand everything.”

“I’m eight years older than your mother. What does that make me?” Lin demanded. Opal muttered a small apology. Lin looked down at the radio on her hip and willed it to crackle alive with an alert, but like most of the city, it was quiet. “Okay, what’s your question?” she asked reluctantly.

“Well, how….how do you kiss?” Opal asked.

Lin looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “…You put your lips together. That’s it,” she deadpanned.

“But there are so many different types-”

“You only need to worry about the basic one,” she barked before quickly getting to her feet. “Okay, are we done?”

Opal grabbed her aunt by the arm as she turned to leave. “No, Aunt Lin, please help me.”

Lin gave a loud exasperated sigh as she re-took her seat. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve only had one relationship. How can I help?” she asked.

“Well, how did you kiss Tenzin?” Opal wondered. “Did you just do it simply or was it more advanced? Where were you? What were you doing? Was the timing right? How did you know the time was right?”

Lin was shocked at all of the questions flying at her. After a few more seconds she metal bent Opal’s chair back a few inches, to shock and startle her into not talking. “How did you know it was him?” Lin finally asked.

“Who doesn’t know?” Opal responded while scooting her chair forward.

Lin bit the inside of her cheek and rolled her eyes. “Korra said something didn’t she? She’s always been amused by that story. I’m not too sure why. Wait until I talk to her-”

“Aunt Lin,” Opal interrupted. “What was it like? Your first kiss?”

_Eight-year-old Lin muttered to herself as she walked up the steps to the Air Temple. Her head hung low, she took slow steps. Once reaching the top she found a ten-year-old Tenzin sitting in the middle of the landing, meditating. She quieted her breathing and took light steps around him to head into the temple._

_“Are you okay, Lin?” he called out to her._

_“I’m fine,” she instantly answered._

_“No, you’re not.” Tenzin opened his eyes and turned to look at her. He motioned for her to sit next to him. “I could hear your heated breathing from the bottom of the stairs,” he added._

_Lin plopped down next to him. She sat down so hard that she caused a small crater from the force. With a simple hit of her heel to the ground, she bent the ground back up.“My mom’s pregnant. It’s a girl,” she explained._

_“I know, my parents told me,” Tenzin said quietly. “I’d say congratulations but you don’t look too happy.”_

_“I’m not.” She shook her head. “It’s too big of an age gap.”_

_“So?”_

_“So?” she repeated harshly. “You and your siblings are closer in age. You have fun with each other.” Lin crossed her arms over her chest and couldn’t help but pout. “What if this kid doesn’t like me since I’m so old?” she asked quietly._

_“You’re eight,” he reminded her._

_“But when she’s eight, I’ll be…old. You know, like our parents,” Lin explained. “What if she thinks I’m too bossy? Or what if I don’t look out for her?” She suddenly gasped and turned to look at him. Tenzin noticed the look of worry in her eyes. “What if she gets hurt?”_

_“Then she gets hurt,” Tenzin said calmly. “That’s how younger children learn. When Kya, Bumi, and I were younger they would play air ball with me.”_

_“See! What would we play?”_

_“No, they would play_ with _me…as the ball,” he clarified. “Mom wasn’t too happy about it. Dad thought it was funny. I enjoyed myself because they wanted to be around me,” Tenzin said with a smile. “It’s kind of like you, me, Kya, Bumi, and Izumi. We’re all of varying ages but we’re friends and we’re close, aren’t we?”_

_“I think our moms and dads had something to do with that,” Lin said quietly._

_“Still, if we can get along then why can’t you and your sister?” Tenzin smiled softly and brushed a stray strand out of her face that the wind blew. “Your sister will think you are the most amazing thing in the world. Like me.”_

_“Thanks, Tenzin,” Lin said softly. Tenzin hummed a reply before giving her a side hug. Lin snuggled her head underneath his chin. She breathed in deeply and faintly smelled his usual scent of air bison and orange-fig leaves._

_Tenzin let his hand slide off of her shoulder. Lin moved to lean back up and accidentally brushed her nose against his. She flushed a deep red as she quickly scooted away._

_“Oh, they’re kissing!” a voice called out. Tenzin groaned and rolled his eyes._

_“No, we’re not!” Lin shouted._

_“Go away, Kya,” he demaned while turning around. His older sister had a look of pure glee on her face. She had an arm wrapped around Bumi’s shoulders and pointed at him._

_“Bumi look; their noses touched,” she continued._

_“They need to get married now,” he added, howling with laughter._

_“Go away. Can’t you leave us alone? We’re just friends.” Tenzin angrily stood up and glided over to his older brother and sister. Bumi and Kya continued to taunt and tease Tenzin as he turned red with anger and denied everything. Lin touched the tip of her nose and smiled._

Lin blinked as she felt Opal shaking her arm. She cleared her throat. “Don’t go rushing things with Bolin,” she instructed.

“We’ve only ever held hands and kiss on the cheek,” Opal explained. “If we were going any slow we would both be snail-ants.” She sighed deeply and slumped a bit in her seat.

“Sometimes that’s enough.” Lin shrugged.

“You’re supposed to be the cool aunt and tell me to do all this crazy stuff.”

“I’m not a normal aunt.” 

Opal raised an eyebrow. “You never answered my question.”

“Which one?”

“What was your kiss with Tenzin like?” she said with a huff.

Lin paused. She tapped her chin as she tried to come up with the right way to describe it. “It was nice.” She smiled.


	2. Break-Up

Chief Lin Beifong mumbled to herself as she looked over at the pile of papers on her desk. She sighed happily when she felt the cool breeze come in through the open window. She pulled out a few pens from her desk drawer, before moving the top paper from the stack. She had just started to write on the paper until she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Come in,” she called out.

The door creaked open slowly and Mako took a step into the office.

“Chief, Opal is here to see you,” he explained.

Lin rolled her eyes and sighed hard. “Thanks to Su, her children think they can do whataver they want outside of their own city,” she mumbled. “Tell her I’m busy and I can’t just stop my work whenever she needs me.”

“It looks important,” Mako said while stepping aside. Opal rushed into the room, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Her nose was a bright red and her eyes looked more green as they swam with tears.

“You may go,” Lin instructed over to Mako. He nodded once before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him. “What’s wrong Opal?” she asked. Lin grunted in surprise as Opal threw herself into her aunt’s arms. Lin patted the top of her head lightly before pushing her off.

“I think Bolin is breaking up with me?” she whimpered.

Lin blinked. “So? You can do better.”

Opal quickly pushed herself out of her aunt’s arms and glared. “You’re not supposed to tell me that.” The wind quickly picked up outside of the window and blew a huge gust of air into the room. It picked up the stack of papers and blew them around the room.

“Okay, okay. Calm down,” Lin said. She got up out of her seat and walked across the room to pour her niece a cup of tea. “What happened?”

“We just finished watching a mover.” Opal sniffed. She smiled softly when she received the cup. She took a quick sip before clearing her throat. “That new one about the bender and the non-bender communicating through time.”

“Oh, that sappy one?” she asked dryly. 

“You saw it?” Opal asked in surprise.

“I heard about it. There’s only so much to talk about when you’re in a squad car staking out a place.” Lin shrugged. “Keep going.” 

“Well, I thought that it was the perfect time to, yknow, have our first kiss.” Opal flushed a light pink. “Right when I was leaning in he said we needed to talk,” she whispered.

Lin waited patiently for her niece to continue but quickly realized she was finished. Once again, she regarded her with a blink. “So?” she asked again.

Opal huffed in frustration; a fresh set of tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. “So, people say that when they’re going to break up with you. I just made up an excuse to leave and then came here.”

Lin forced herself to not smile. She cleared her throat and shook her head. “That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to break up with you. He probably just actually has to tell you something.”

“I highly doubt that,” Korra commented. She was standing outside of Lin’s window on the sidewalk of the Police Station. Asami was standing next to her, tugging on the Avatar’s arm.

“Why are you eavesdropping?” Lin demanded.

“Your window is open, that’s not exactly eavesdropping. Besides, you told us to come here, remember? To help you find some criminals or something.” Korra jumped through the window. She placed her glider up against the wall. She turned to help pull Asami through the window, who shook her head with a glare. Asami rested her arms on the windowsill but remained outside.

Lin, once again, rolled her eyes before turning back to her niece. “Take it from someone who has been broken up with-“

“You mean dumped,” Korra corrected.

“You were dumped?” Asami repeated in surprise.

“Yeah, she dated Tenzin and then he broke up with her to be with Pema,” Korra filled her in.

“How did I not know about this?”

“I’m actually surprised you didn’t know since your girlfriend has a big mouth,” Lin snapped. Korra raised her eyebrows in shock before half-smile. “Listen, you’re Bolin’s first girlfriend and-“

“Technically,” Korra interrupted.

“Korra, be quiet,” Asami ordered.

“Maybe he was nervous since he never kissed someone he really liked?” Lin suggested. “Guys can be nervous about those things too. Maybe he didn’t know what kissing would lead to…which I hopes isn’t too much.”

“Or,” Korra stretched the word out, “maybe it’s because his mover is coming out on mini-screen and he wanted to surprise you with a date night,” she explained with a smile.

Opal’s tears slowly came to a stop. She sniffed once more before starting to brighten. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Korra confirmed. Next to her, Asami nodded in agreement. “He told me the entire plan. Asami helped him get an advanced copy. Don’t worry Opal, Bolin is nuts about you.”

“Oh,” Opal said quietly. “That’s good to hear. Although, Aunt Lin is probably right too. It took Bolin a while before holding my hand and at that point he needed to tell me that ever since he started lavabending, he tends to get sweat palms.”

“So,” Korra said slowly. “How’d Tenzin break up with you?” Asami groaned and slapped herself on the forehead. Opal shook her head slowly before the two took a few steps back.

Lin slowly turned towards Korra and glared. She slammed her hand onto her desk. All the metal in the room shook before being crushing in on itself. Her desk was bent in two, her chair was a pile of twisted metal, and the numerous small pieces of metal like pens, pins, paperclips, and other items quickly bent into sharp points before flying towards Korra’s face.

She quickly airbent it away and they stuck into the wall next to her head.

“We’re not talking about it,” Lin muttered. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Korra said slowly. Asami grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back through the open window.


	3. Listening

"So, why are you mad?" Lin questioned. She was resting in a lounge chair, her hands cupping the back of her head. Her pale skin glittered with water the water that clung to her legs. Her green tanktop and black pants clung to her skin from being soaked with water.

Everyone had gathered at Asami's mansion for a pool party. It was one of those rare day where they all didn't have too much on their plate so she invited everyone over just to relax and have some fun.

"Because," Opal huffed, "Bolin isn't listening to me. I want to go on this upcoming airbender trip but every time I want to talk to him about it he gives me the shortest answers in response."

"He is listening," Lin said. She reached down by her chair and picked up a bottle of sunscreen. She deposited some into her hand and started to rub it on her arms and upper chest. "He's just listening like a guy."

"He is a guy."

"Exactly my point," Lin snickered. "They tend to pick and choose what they want to hear. Tenzin did it too."

"He still does," Pema said as she walked by them. She was blowing up an inflatable water wing with one hand. With the other, she was holding tightly onto Rohan's arm as he tried to tug out of her grip to run toward the pool.

"Why are we talking about Tenzin?" Korra asked. She plopped herself down at the end of Lin's lounge chair. The chief of police glared at her as she bounced lightly in her seat. Korra ignored the look but snatched the sunscreen out of her hands before slathering it onto her abdomen.

The Avatar was wearing a light blue sports bra bathing suit top and matching board shorts. The color perfectly accented her skin color and her toned build. Asami sat down next to Opal on her lounge chair. Her hair was pulled back in her usual ponytail. She was wearing a red bikini with a black sarong tied around her waist. She crossed one leg over the other and Opal complimented her on the pink nail polish that was painted on her fingers and toes.

"We're talking about how guys don't listen," Opal explained.

"Oh, that can be so annoying," Asami said with a nod.

"What was it like with Mako?"

"He could never make up his mind," the engineer answered.

"She's right," Korra said while jerking her thumb in Asami's direction. "Right before the Civil War between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes-"

"Which you helped start," Lin muttered.

"Good things came out of it," she said defensively. "Anyway, I vented to him about my problems and he never knew when to just listen or actually give me advice."

Asami bit her bottom lip. "In his defense, I think your Avatar problems are a little hard to understand sometimes," she admitted.

Korra blinked. She tapped her chin before nodding once. "Okay, so I'm a bad example."

"You got that right," Lin agreed.

"Low blow," Korra pouted. Asami chuckled before giving her a light kiss on the cheek.

"With Bolin, he likes for things to be easy and carefree," Asami said. "It's actually a good quality to have. _Someone_ in our group needs it," she added while turning to Korra with a smirk. Korra rolled her eyes before sticking her tongue out at her.

"Just use simple language with him," Lin suggested. Opal nodded once. She rubbed her hands onto her legs before getting up. She walked over to the side of the pool and looked down over Mako and Bolin who were actively trying to dunk each other.

"Hey Opal," Bolin said with a bright smile. It quickly faded when he noticed her serious expression. "What's wrong?"

"Bolin, I'm going to go on the trip," she declared. "I would like your support." Bolin turned to look at Mako. He shrugged before laying on his back and swimming away. Bolin swam up to the side of the pool. Opal sat down on the edge next to him as he rested his arms on the side.

"I will always support you," he said quietly. "I just want you to be careful."

"That's so sweet," Opal said softly. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Asami excused herself to go and grab a pool cleaner net. Korra got off of the end of Lin's lounge chair and started to stretch. She looked down at Lin and placed both of her hands on her hips. Lin's face twitched as she could feel the Avatar's eyes on her. She rolled her eyes behind her glasses before lifting them up to look at the tan girl.

"So, I have a question about you and Tenzin," Korra started.

Lin shifted her right leg off of the lounge chair and slammed her heel into the ground. A square piece of rock shot up underneath Korra's feet. She yelped in surprise as she was thrown into the air and crash landed into the pool.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kind of short but I still like it. In case you all haven't realized, these are oneshots but they also reference past events in the past few oneshots. So think of them like linear oneshots but not necessarily a story with chapters. Also, I will be bringing Suyin in since she is essentially the reason as to why this whole thing started. 
> 
> Plus, I have a headcanon that after Korra found out about Lin and Tenzin she separately asks them questions about their relationship since she's so fascinated and interested in the idea of them dating, much to Lin's annoyance.


	4. Public Display of Affection (PDA)

Opal's cheeks were burning a bright red as she sat in front of Lin in the police station. She flinched every time at the harsh sound of the pen scribbling across the page, ending a sentence or a signature. "Please, don't tell my mom."

"Why shouldn't I?" Lin asked without looking up from the paper she was writing on. "She deserves to know." She sighed in frustration as a loud knock came from the other side of her office door. "Come in."

"Am I interrupting something?" Kya questioned as she entered the room.

"Yes," Lin snapped at the same time Bolin shouted, "No!" She quickly silenced him with a glare. "What do you want, Kya?"

"Tenzin asked me to stop by," she explained with a shrug. "Something about talking to Korra about the two of you."

"I didn't tell her anything if that's what he's concerned about," Lin said dryly. "She just has a big mouth. That's obvious given her appetite," she commented.

Kya hummed a response. "Well he seemed to think that you'd be the one who'd be able to quiet her." She then looked over at Opal and Bolin. Opal smiled sheepishly up at her before looking away. Bolin's eyes looked everywhere around the room except for at Lin or Kya. "You arrested your niece?" she questioned.

"No." Lin shrugged. "I'm just putting this on their record."

"Putting _what_ on their record?" Kya wondered. "What did they do?"

Lin huffed before lifting her head. Opal groaned and Bolin slumped in his chair as she glared harshly at the two of them. "I caught them kissing in one of the spare offices during an important meeting held by President Raiko about reconstruction, that of which they were supposed to attend."

"Is that all?" the water bender snickered.

"Is that _all_?" the chief of police repeated. "They acted inappropriately and-"

"They acted like teenagers, it's normal," Kya interrupted with a sigh. She reached up and rubbed her temples. "Lin, they didn't total a building or try to eat the fish from the local park's pond."

"Kya, I'm trying to teach her right from wrong here," Lin grumbled. "And Korra got lucky that Tenzin was there to back her up."

"You're not her parent, Lin," Kya quickly responded with an eye roll. She then smiled before raising an eyebrow. Lin looked at her in confusion. "Besides, I happen to know someone who dated my brother who got caught once in public, and I don't mean just kissing."

Lin's eyes widened as she drew her lips into a thin line. Opal looked over at her aunt and but her bottom lip, trying not to laugh. "Do tell. What happened?"

"Well-" Kya was interrupted by a loud ripping sound. She turned and saw Lin tossing the papers into a nearby trash can. "I'll tell you later. Go on, now. She's being nice."

Opal took Bolin's hand before rushing away.

"I wasn't really going to write them up, y'know," Lin said while crossing her arms over her chest. Kya turned towards Lin with an amused look. "I was just sending a message."

"Kind of like what you did with Pema?"

"No, I did that on purpose." Lin half-smiled.


	5. Support

“Aunt Lin, was Grandmother Toph happy when you gained bending?” Opal asked. She was seated on her aunt’s couch in the living room of her apartment. Lin, seated in a nearby chair, looked up from the newspaper she was reading, glancing at her with a raised eyebrow.

“The chief was nothing short of supportive. In fact, sometimes I felt like she viewed your mother and me as her friends more than her children,” she answered gruffly. Lin went back to reading the paper. “We were people she could play with and just have fun; to bend and break every rule.” Lin folded up the newspaper in her hands before tossing it onto the coffee table in front of them. “Of course, until Su and I started fighting, then she whipped our butts when necessary. Katara never did like the way we played. She always said we were too rough, but we knew how to have fun.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Why?” she demanded.

“I know my mom is happy that I’m a bender,” Opal said softly, brushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear. “…but sometimes I wonder if she’s disappointed that I can’t do what she can.”

“You mean, not being an earthbender?” Lin pressed.

“Exactly.”

“Aside from the help of Harmonic Convergence, there’s probably some air nation blood running through our family somewhere,” she grunted. “Which would have made things pretty interesting,” she muttered.

“Sometimes…sometimes I wonder if it would have been easier for her if I weren’t a bender,” Opal admitted. Lin frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. “I mean, now I’m traveling around and she worries all the time.” She slouched a bit lower in her seat. “Every time I go to a new city, I have to send her a letter when I arrive and when I leave.”

“At least she cares enough to wonder where you are,” Lin said. “The chief let us come and go as we please and look at how we ended up.”

Opal looked up at the ceiling in thought. She snapped her fingers, her eyes lightning up as a thought came to her mind. “A grumpy loaner and a wife with five kids?” she asked.

Lin scowled. “I was talking about how we didn’t talk to each other for more than 30 years, but thanks for bringing that up,” she snapped.

“Sorry.” Opal smiled apologetically. “I don’t know, even when she has loosened her reigns on me, she still keeps me close. Sometimes, I wish I were invisible.”

“Maybe that’s how your brother feels,” Lin suggested. 

“What?”

“Baatar Jr isn’t a bender, so he worked with what he was good at which was mechanics and engineering. He decided to help his dad with his projects, but was still stuck behind your dad’s reputation,” Lin pointed out. “I mean, before you became a bender, he had someone who could relate to him. Now, he’s the only one who can’t bend in your family aside from your dad.” She clicked her tongue. “Maybe that’s why he tried to so hard to make a name for himself; to step out of from the Beifong shadow.”

“Like following Kuvira and dropping the junior from his name?” Opal scoffed. Lin softened a bit. The betrayal of her older brother and family

“To follow someone like Kuvira, he had to have been in love with her,” Lin pointed out with an eye roll. “Look, if your mom wasn’t supportive of you, then she wouldn’t have let you study with Tenzin, or travel around the world helping those in need,” she said. “Her support was to let you go and do what you believe in. It may not seem like it sometimes, but she does support you.” Lin offered up a smile. “And, when you feel like she doesn’t, just know that I’ll support you.”

“Then why won’t she support me when I want to go on a vacation with Bolin?” Opal asked, a bit of whining was laced around her words.

“Because that’s a bad idea,” Lin answered dryly. 

“We’ve been dating for about three years, though,” she added.

“It’s still a bad idea.”

“But you just said that you’d support me,” Opal pointed out.

“That was fifteen seconds ago.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm only marking this oneshot collection as "complete" because I update it really sporadically, and since it is a oneshot collection it can essentially be "finished" at any given time.


End file.
